


The Sound of Silence

by RainbowSheltie



Category: Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Witch Mountain Series - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Incest, Romance, Scientific Inaccuracies, UFOs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-24 18:19:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17105753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowSheltie/pseuds/RainbowSheltie
Summary: Seth and Sara need the research on Earth to save their dying planet, but their military sends an assassin out to stop them—they want an invasion. Seth is the only one who can pilot their spacecraft, but when he’s injured on the way to Earth, can he hold out long enough to finish what they started?





	1. Walk with Me

**Author's Note:**

> **Notes** : The title is from “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed. Most of this story (I'm already a few chapters ahead) was written while listening to one of my Disturbed playlists (the band is awesome).
> 
> I use the term "identical twins" with Seth and Sara in that they look extremely similar. Technically speaking, they are actually fraternal twins, but that's really not the point.
> 
>  **Ages** : Seth and Sara may look like children, but they are actually around 19 years old. Their race ages and matures at a different rate then humans.
> 
>  **BETA** : TheSupernova

Very few people could pilot the ship Seth and Sara’s parents loaned them. The Nova class series of spacecraft was one of the most advanced ships on the planet, and very selective in its pilots. Their parents were lucky to own one, though they had never said how they managed to afford it.

While technology had advanced over time, the fastest way to traverse the galaxy was to interface directly with the main engine. Seth was one of the few people able to pilot one, along with his mother, because of the strict requirements to fly it. 

The ship’s interface with its pilot required perfect combability with a person’s powers, mental compacity, IQ, and physical fitness (including hand-eye coordination). Less than half of the population were viable candidates, with less than ¼ willing to be pilots.

Seth’s lifelong dream to be a pilot, combined with this ship, were the major reasons their parents let them cross the galaxy to retrieve the top-secret research that could save their planet. Other pilots had been considered, but for reasons unclear to Seth, as he knew more than a few qualified pilots for this craft, they were all passed over.

Flying through the passageways would normally be a slow process, as spatial tunnels were known to be twisting monstrosities, often spiraling and lurching out of control. A normal ship would have taken days to reach Earth from their planet, but now it would be a matter of hours.

Seth and Sara left a few days before the military deadline to invade Earth. Despite being so young, Seth was one of the best pilots on the planet. Getting to Earth would be easy.

* * *

Their world was dying.

The starship hangar was built under a large, transparent dome, created specifically so that people, vehicles and various objects could pass through freely while keeping the poisonous atmosphere out. The sky outside was overcast, colored a deep, yellowish brown. The sun hadn’t shone through the clouds in many decades. A strange purple rain could be seen pounding the ground near the northern edge of the dome.

The military didn’t care who it had to kill, as long as the invasion to Earth went as scheduled. That fact was never clearer than when they spotted a unit of soldiers guarding the hangar to their parents’ spacecraft. Also patrolling the perimeter was Syphon, an assassin created by their military (officially known as the Siphon warrior series Deraniun 75). He was bred to kill, with weapons specifically tailored to counteract the special powers of their people. In this case, that meant Seth and Sara.

He should have known better than to assume the military hadn’t been tracking their movements. Surely two teens would be the least suspect to carry out this mission? But it seemed they were prepared for any eventuality.

But this hangar had been designed by their parents, and Seth grew up roaming its corridors and secret halls. Sara had been less enthusiastic and often skipped out on those trips.

Seth and Sara were hiding just beyond a chain-link fence, safe behind a patch of large, artificial bushes. Their soft, green leaves and sturdy branches were a stark contrast to the dead forest around them. The bushes were scattered around the building in an attempt to ‘liven’ the place up. To Seth, the fake plant life was just a reminder of how little time their planet had left.

They needed that research if the planet was to survive.

“Come on,” he whispered to Sara. “I know another way in.”

She nodded.

Syphon had moved to the other side of the building, and Seth and Sara waited for the remaining guards to turn their backs before proceeding. They ran back through the forest, just out of sight of the hangar. In the distance was a small cabin. When Seth was growing up, he would often stay here with his mom for the weekend. She would spend the entire time teaching him how to fly their ship. 

The front door was locked, but Seth phased his hand through the door and unlocked it from the other side. Seth took one last look behind them, in case they were being followed. With no one in sight, the two hurried into the house and shut the door behind them.

* * *

The hidden tunnel to the hangar was located in the basement, behind a false wall that could only be opened by a tiny switch hidden about two feet in the adjoining wall. It was designed so that only those who could change their molecular density could open it, such as Seth and his mother (among others). It was warded against all other types of powers.

Seth felt around inside the wall until he found the switch hidden within a tiny crack.

The door opened with a whoosh. It was a convoluted, pitch black maze, only to be used in emergencies.

“Hold my hand,” Seth said.

When he felt Sara’s hand slip into his, he squeezed it gently and entered the labyrinth of tunnels. A soft whoosh closed the door behind them. Seth immediately placed his hand along the wall and started walking.


	2. The Labyrinth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wormholes = Passageways
> 
>  **BETA** : TheSupernova

The fake wall opened to a set of stairs leading into the darkness. Seth couldn’t see the bottom, but he knew precisely how many steps and the size of each. He told Sara what to watch out for as they descended.

Together they descended into an artificial labyrinth, the walls made of a cold, black rock that was smooth to the touch. When the false wall closed with a grating thud, the world fell into darkness.

It took approximately four and a half minutes to reach the bottom of the stairs. A cold breeze washed over them and Seth felt Sara shiver in response.

“We are deep underground.” Seth said. “But it will get warmer.”

Sara nodded. This would be her first time entering the tunnel system. Seth had Sara walk in the middle, while he kept his hand along the right wall and counted his steps.

“You don’t seem to know where to go. How are we supposed to navigate these tunnels if we are both lost?” she asked.

“I do know, but it’s more complicated than that,” he replied. “You’ll understand soon.”

Seth had Sara walk in the middle, while he kept his hand along the right wall. They walked for a few minutes before reaching a cross-section that Seth knew lead out in five different directions.

“Wait here,” he told Sara. “And do not move. I cannot guarantee your safety if you do.”

“Okay.”

He let go of her hand and phased through the wall next to him. Ten steps forward, five steps right, two left, three straight, and eighteen diagonally at a thirty-degree angle to the left. After every step, he knew an orange ball of light was activated behind him. This sequence had to be perfectly executed.

Eventually Seth phased through into a metallic, round sphere embedded deep within solid rock; only people who could change their molecular density could enter.

The room was twenty feet in diameter. The area was lit by the opposing platforms on the floor and ceiling, which contained small, orange hexagonal plates in the center; they emitted soft, orange glow. The walls were lined with a circuitry pattern, interlinked with various symbols and letters.

Seth de-phased as he stepped onto the center platform. He took a deep breath.

“Active security tunnel engine, authorization Seth Pi 1-1-0.”

The two platforms lit up a bright orange in response, and from there the light activated the closest circuits in a matching color. The orange energy coursed along the sphere’s walls until it met in the center. A whirring sound kicked in as the top platform’s hexagonal tiles disappeared from the center outwards revealing a darkened chamber. Orange energy entered the chamber from holes lining the black metal walls, swirling around until it formed a large energy ball within.

Seth watched as the energy moved towards him from the chamber, casting an eerie glow inside the sphere. It hung it the air for a few seconds before splitting apart into two separate energy balls that moved on either side of him.

They stopped, waiting, as Seth took a deep breath and strengthened his molecular density before grabbing the balls, which contained a hard core within. Without his enhanced density the energy would have scorched his body, burning his arms off.

As it was, the orange energy activated a series of circuits which ran up his arms and spread out along his upper torso. Seth’s pupils briefly turned a bright, solid orange before reverting back to their normal color.

The air within the sphere grew hot as the engine kicked into full gear and started emitting a loud, thumping pulse.

When Seth let go of the orbs, the orange circuitry crawled back the way it came, settling down over his hands and forearms.

The connection to the Underground Network System (UNS) was complete.

* * *

When Seth stepped back out into the tunnels, Sara ran up to him excitedly.

“Seth! I was—” The look on her face dropped, and she took a step back. “I can’t… read you.”

Seth smiled and raised his arms.

“Welcome to the Underground Network System, the UNS, a series of tunnels mimicking the passageways in space,” Seth said. He dropped his arms. “They are always shifting, twisting and intersecting, creating new tunnels while destroying others.”

Along the center of the tunnel walls were two stripes bordering a set of foreign symbols and letters. An orange energy was coursing through the design, emitting an eerie glow. The labyrinth grew warm as the energy pushed through its corridors.

Sara walked over to Seth, and ran her hand along his lower arms.

“It’s warm,” she said, acknowledging the circuitry. “Why? Where are we?”

“This place was built for the resistance. These tunnels cover half the planet,” Seth replied. “As long as I’m interfaced with the Satellite engine, I control these tunnels.”

Seth held out his left hand. Sara hesitated, but quickly quelled any fears she might have had and placed her hand in his. He phased his right hand into the raised, glowing patterns. Immediately, four of the five branching tunnels shifted to the left, with the fifth moving to create a sharp right corner. As they entered it, Sara jumped as two of the remaining tunnels merged into a single tunnel. It curved to the left, intersecting with a nearby tunnel and rejoined the main room, effectively creating an arc.

“You can’t read the minds of those who interface with an energy-based engine, like our spaceship,” Seth said.

Sara nodded. Seth knew she had experienced this phenomenon before.

They walked for a few minutes in silence. Seth kept his hand phased and passing along the walls. Every so often, the tunnel behind them would squirm around before stilling in its previous path.

“Tell me about the UNS,” she said curiously.

“Most of the proven resistance members know about the tunnels. They were created using an experimental energy-based engine, known generically as a Satellite engine. Our model was customized to become the security tunnel engine.” Seth said.

He stopped. The tunnel before them extended far beyond what the eye could see. Seth drew a design with his finger inside a symbol that looked like two vertical slash marks, with a triangle in the center connecting the two.

The tunnel split into a ‘V’ shape. He released his hold on the wall and walked Sara across the empty space,

“It’s easier for me to control the tunnels when I’m connected to the engine, which is controlled by the designs on the wall. I don’t need to follow it like I do, but our mother did,” Seth added.

It was technically safer to control it directly than mentally.

“These are more than just tunnels,” he told her. “There are many rooms and traps that exist within. Exits like the one we passed through to get here can only be accessed via the interface, for security purposes.”

Every few minutes they passed a large cluster of glowing, purple mushrooms. Eventually Sara tried reaching out to touch one, but Seth stopped her.

“It’s dangerous,” he said. “They contain enough electricity to kill you.”

“A trap, then?” she said, withdrawing her hand. Sara moved closer to Seth’s side.

“Yeah. If anyone wanders inside unattended, they’ll die. The tunnels will always kill them, eventually.”

Sara nodded again.

They didn’t have much to say after that, Sara was most likely distracted by either the tunnels or the trouble they would have getting to their spaceship. After all, if there were soldiers guarding the perimeter of the hangar, then chances were good that they were inside as well. And then there was the assassin to worry about.

But Seth couldn’t think about that right now. He was connected to half a planet’s worth of underground passageways. Sure, Seth only needed to control a fraction of those nearest to them, but there was more to it than that.

What made the tunnels so convenient was that they worked similar to the passageways in space—they could quickly traverse long distances.

The trouble came about when tunnels from the opposite ends of the planet wished to interfere with the tunnels Seth was currently controlling. They were long, spiraling things.

Further complicating matters was the fact that the engine could be interfaced with by more than one user at a time.

Twenty minutes of twisting tunnels, and Seth finally broke the silence. Not that he had anything interesting to say, but it had been on his mind. Sara was new to the UNS and might find it interesting.

“Without the engines, every exit connects to a dead end,” he said. “The tunnels are inactive, and twist in on each other. This helps prevent unwanted access.”

Sara smiled.

“So it’s a really important job then, right?” she said cheekily.

Seth laughed.

“Yeah, it is.” He was proud to help the resistance. “I’ve led a few teams though the tunnels before, sometimes with our mom, if we had two groups who had separate destinations.”

She looked at him, tilting her head and ended it with a sigh.

“It’s odd being so forcefully disconnected from you,” she admitted.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” Seth said. “You’ve help me pilot our ship through the passageways in space many times.”

Sara laughed kindly.

“I know, but it doesn’t make it any less bearable.”

Seth stopped them, and swung her towards him.

“I’m right here,” he said.

He stroked her cheek reassuringly. Sara’s skin was cold to the touch, and it felt good, a contrast to his own body, which was heated due to the interface.

“I know.” Sara placed her hand on Seth’s cheek, opposite the one he was holding. “No matter what, I still love you.”

She leaned up and met his lips with hers, kissing him gently. When the tunnels began warping around on either side of them, Sara pulled away, laughing.

Seth immediately reached for the wall and the tunnel settled down. It shifted thirty degrees to the left, continuing on at an angle.

“So why can we not just walk straight to our destination if you can control the tunnels?” she asked.

Seth shook his head in amusement.

“If you’re asking for the long explanation, based upon what you know, it will take approximately five hours just to go through the basic concepts, and the fundamentals of passageways have never been of interest to you,” Seth replied.

“I’ll accept this is how they work,” Sara said, avoiding the subject.

Their mother had introduced the fundamentals of space and science to Seth as a child, whereas Sara had been less thrilled and had gone to their father for tales of fantasy and an introduction to historical and social concepts (he always crafted fantastical, yet educational stories).

A few more turns and one spiraling tunnel later, Seth and Sara found themselves staring at a small cliffside blocking the way. It had three levels, the first about eight feet high, and four feet behind that was another cliffside about four feet high. The last was only three feet behind with five-foot cliff face. The tunnel continued just beyond.

The tunnels weren’t always flat; they were complex and created using the rock and earth around them.

“It’s a shortcut,” Seth said.

Sara nodded and began scaling the rocky cliffside. It was a straight shot up, but unlike the walls around this, these cliff faces were rocky with a fair number of handholds each.

She had no problem reaching the first level. Sara turned and looked down at Seth.

“Your turn,” she said, waiting expectantly.

The tunnel behind them curved to the right. Seth reached the first handhold and began to ascend.

He had only reached the half-way point when Seth heard a shrill whistle singing through the air.

Sara screamed his name, but it was too late.

A shot blast punched into his shoulder, the pain numbing the right side of his body and causing him to fall to the ground with a cry. The wind had been knocked from his lungs, and while he struggled to get up, Seth saw the assassin’s boots come into view.

Seth’s shoulder began to bleed, blue blood staining his shirt. 

Syphon’s left arm gun was pointed directly at Seth once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **End Notes** : For anyone who’s a fan of Star Trek: Voyager, the authorization code Seth uses to activate the tunnel system is based off the one from season 2, episode 21 “Deadlock”, when Janeway uses it to initiate the auto-destruct sequence (Janeway Pi 1-1-0). It’s probably a bit ironic I choose that particular code, but whatever. It’s one of my favorite episodes and I can do what I want.


End file.
